


Goodness and light (on the action): Love interests in BtVS

by yourlibrarian



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, Meta, Plot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 20:06:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6721450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having read several posts re: the whole issue of love interests and their development in stories, I had some thoughts about BtVS.  They began with Riley, who along with Oz, Tara, and Kennedy seem the characters most clearly developed for the purpose of being love interests.  And I think that a lot of the backlash against the characters had to do with that very fact.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodness and light (on the action): Love interests in BtVS

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 7, 2007

Having read several posts re: the whole issue of love interests and their development in stories, I had some thoughts about BtVS. They began with Riley, who along with Oz, Tara, and Kennedy seem the characters most clearly developed for the purpose of being love interests. And I think that a lot of the backlash against the characters had to do with that very fact. While Riley could have existed independent of Buffy as a character merely by being around as part of the Initiative storyline, it would have created this odd schism. We’d have a character in scene after scene who doesn’t end up having much to do with the Scoobies, almost as if he’s running on a parallel track. And generally the only people who have such scenes are the villains of the season (or episode). So while it isn’t strictly necessary that Riley become a love interest (any more than it was for Spike), it does become more difficult to have a rationale for why he’s taking up screen time at all.

It occurs to me that the introduction of a new character is always tricky on shows that are centered around a lead character, because a newbie’s existence has to be justified in relation to that character and his/her goals. A show like Firefly that has an ensemble cast which comes together around a common goal, actually gives more opportunities for new characters to come in. They can be connected to any one of the characters through ties of friendship, love, family, work, or antagonism (such as villains). They can then branch out from that initial contact into other areas by their interaction with all of the other main characters. They can be Character X’s friend but Character Y’s antagonist or Character Z’s love interest because with multiple leads we are following Characters X, Y and Z. With a one-lead show, it is mostly time with that lead that gives any meaning to the newbie character, thus fewer opportunities for interaction since ALL the characters are interacting with the lead.

Returning to Riley, what I thought about was the character of Sam, his wife. Because _there_ was a character whose only purpose was to be a love interest, and a love interest of the _guest star_ at that. Yet I realized that Sam was a caricature of Riley himself: the level-headed, kind and helpful, perfect partner who nevertheless knew all about the world of demons. Sam was Riley circa early S5 (minus the steroid problems I assume). And Sam didn’t go over very well, nor, I think was she meant to. Sam and Riley are very clearly contrasted in “As You Were” with Spike and Buffy, yet it is Spike and Buffy (presumably) who are the much more interesting pair to watch, even if the episode does end with Buffy packing it in. So I think that love interests may suffer from the fact that not only are they, as characters, often limited in their behavior, but that the limitation lies in the fact that they must generally be _well behaved_. 

Spike can get away with not being well behaved. He used to be a villain after all, and during his liminal period in season 4 he can continue that sort of behavior. But as soon as he tries to be a love interest, his behavior starts to shift. Given his background it doesn’t change that much, and is often funny, but it does change. Riley, on the other hand, comes in with all the characteristics that will make him an acceptable boyfriend, and although there are periods where he is lost and confused and there is periodic tension, it doesn’t tend to last past an episode. Then when he becomes particularly ill behaved, he leaves the show. Ditto for Oz. Angel would have as well, had he not come back in S3. Ditto Spike after S6. Tara never does, of course, as within their relationship it is Willow who is in the wrong, so it is Tara's return to the relationship that dooms her. She began and ended as a catalyst for Willow.

And it seems to me the need to keep the love interest’s behavior unobjectionable is part and parcel of having them be a love interest rather than a character in their own right. Because central characters can behave badly and continue on the show. Love interests can generally do so only as a means of ending their tenure (or becoming different people, in the case of Spike and the resouled Angel). Look for example as to why Oz leaves yet again in S4.

OZ: But I couldn't look at you. I mean, it turns out... the one thing that brings it out in me is you... which falls under the heading of ironic in my book.  
WILLOW: It was my fault. I upset you.  
OZ: Well, so we're safe then, (sarcastic) cause you'll never do that again.

My feeling is that this difference has to do with making it clear to the audience why someone is a love interest in the first place –- we must see that so-and-so is good for the main character. So Angel might have seemed like a bad choice from the POV of, say, Giles or Joyce, but from Buffy’s POV Angel treated her well, up until the time he went evil. Her frustrations with him (as well as a lot of her attraction) had to do with his mystery. So it would seem if one wants a love interest that people actually like as a character, the best thing to do is either to make him an enemy of the main character, or mysterious (and supernatural). And the reason has to do with the difference between a love interest being around solely to flesh out a part of the hero’s character (character-oriented) or being a love interest who is actually important to the plot or mission (story-oriented). 

For example it was pointed out that many love interests fall into the “catalyst” slot -- they are important only insofar as they lead the main character to some sort of action, and they usually die. I don’t think most people mind these characters because they’re fairly disposable and if they do return (for example, Mary or Jess in SPN) we get to find out more about the main character’s backstory. With the antagonistic relationship, the antagonist has another reason to exist within the plot of the show quite apart from the hero, and people can find that character interesting (or not) depending on how well they accomplish _that_ task. With the mysterious love interest, the viewers can follow along discovering bits about that person along with the hero, and it matters less whether or not they actually like that character. The mystery love interest is something of a plot device as opposed to a character device. 

Going back to the issue of good behavior, it strikes me that love interests also tend to be less humorous characters. So that unlike the sounding-board friends (Lorne for example), who exist largely as a way for the main character to talk out his/her problems, the love interest is there for the hero to react to and yet has less of a distinctive personality. One thing the sounding-board friend and love interest tend to have in common is that their roles tend to be smaller because they are character-oriented, not action-oriented figures. And given that stories (especially in television and film) are centered on action, any character who isn’t tends to be less interesting to many people because they don’t do much to drive the story. I’ve heard this criticism of Tara who, although she was a character well liked by many people, was often also considered boring. Speaking for myself I thought Tara became the most interesting exactly when she left Willow, and her best episode for me was probably “Older and Far Away,” where she shows humor and backbone, seeming independent even as she shows support for Willow. 

To come around to Kennedy, she really seemed to prove the maxim that to be accepted at all she must be well-behaved. Kennedy may have been a potential, and she was certainly not passive, but neither was she in any way central to a plot. She was not the villain (or even a grey character like Spike in later seasons). She existed solely to be a love interest to Willow. Yet unlike Riley or Tara, she was not the unobjectionable girlfriend, kind, sweet or usually thoughtful. Unlike Oz, or another ill-behaved character, Cordelia, she wasn't particularly funny. Speaking for myself, I thought the Kennedy-Willow storyline was too forced but never had any particular dislike for Kennedy herself. That seems to be quite the minority opinion though, and at least from a love interest standard, she had several strikes against her.


End file.
